keep off the counter!

Our two cats (both males about 3 yrs old) where trained as kittens to stay off the counters and tables by use of the squirt bottle method. When we got our dog a little over a year ago she was a wild little puppy that the cats wanted to get away from. So, we got a little relaxed about letting the cats go on the counters to get away from the dog until they got use to each other. Now I can't keep the cats of the counters and tables. I know its our fault for not being consistant with them, but its driving me crazy. They get into all the christmas decorations on the tables. They sit on the table when we are trying to eat. They climb on the counter when we are trying to cook. A startling noise does not work to scare them away. The squirt bottle still works to get them off, but they are so persistant that they are back up there withing 15 seconds. Any sugestions?

The only way to train cats is to make an unpleasant experience. Have yu thought about putting some fly paper on your counters? A bout with fly paper on the paws might do the trick :)

Keep the water close and just use it everytime. It takes a lot, and I mean A LOT of patience to get them off from the table, but it works. Casper and Kitty were (and still are) trained with water and works well.
Just remember to do it all the time!

Good luck! ;)

I will try to be more consistant with the water when im home, but how about when im not home. I know they are all over everything when we are gone. Maybe I can try the fly paper for that. Anybody got any other ideas for when we are not home? I have heard that upside down mouse traps will work, but that worries me.

Note: I was told that one of those plastic motion detectors in animal shapes would frighten my cats off of counters -- especially effective if I could get one in the shape of a frog.

Uh-huh, nope, not with my kids. Shortly after I set it up in the kitchen, I heard this really annoying 'ribit' steadily for about a half an hour. I was ready to scream and gave up and went into the kitchen. Plastic frog: "ribit". Sassafras, sprawled across the burners of the stove, would thwack plastic frog then return to tucked in position. "Ribit". Sassy thought this was the greatest game ever and that I was a stinker to turn froggie off.

It might work for some cats, but not all.
Someone suggested I leave some pans hanging over the edge of the cabinets so that a leaping cat would overbalance and cat and pan would fall to the floor with a clatter. A variation is to have water in the pan. It might work, but I never had the nerve to try this. [It also sounds awfully messy...]

Good luck.

I have to admit that I am not too good at keeping my kitties off the counters, etc.
But.....I do have a really nice antique chair that I do not want them on or messing with. What works for that is something I ordered from R.C. Steele called a 'Scraminal'! It looks like a little remote, (ultrasonic beam) and works great! I think you can buy them at Petsmart too.

My little Campino knows he is not supposed to go on the counters, and is usually good about it. Every once in a while though I here this thump and sure enough he is up on the counter. All I have to do is stand up and he is off of there lickidy split. He then comes up and wants to cuddle because he knows he's been bad and wants to suck up. :rolleyes: